Varsity Extra » Lelandhttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports
Mercury News' Santa Clara and San Mateo counties high school sports blogFri, 24 Jul 2015 16:24:57 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3CIF swimming and diving: Recognizing medal winners who did not make Sunday’s story, plus thoughts on meethttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2015/05/25/cif-swimming-and-diving-recognizing-medal-winners-who-did-not-make-sundays-story-plus-thoughts-on-meet/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2015/05/25/cif-swimming-and-diving-recognizing-medal-winners-who-did-not-make-sundays-story-plus-thoughts-on-meet/#commentsMon, 25 May 2015 23:53:01 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/?p=9322
Before shifting gears to baseball, softball and track, which will be on the front-burner this week, I wanted to share some leftovers from the state swimming and diving championships that did not get into the paper Sunday. It was a… Continue Reading →]]>

Before shifting gears to baseball, softball and track, which will be on the front-burner this week, I wanted to share some leftovers from the state swimming and diving championships that did not get into the paper Sunday.

It was a great weekend for the Mercury News’ coverage area at the inaugural California Interscholastic Federation championships as area swimmers and divers reached the medal stand (top six) 28 times and won four championships.

Southern California club coach Coley Stickels told the WSJ, ““I’m not a huge fan of high-school swimming, and I get tons of backlash because of it. It’s a hobby; it’s not serious.”

My thoughts:

If those were “hobby” swimmers in the pool Saturday, sign me up.

Hard to believe a “hobby” swimmer can cover 50 yards in 19.90 seconds or the 200 individual medley in 1:45.81.

Carondelet’s Madelyn Murphy, who won the 100 butterfly in 53.01, called the experience incredible.

“It gives me confidence that I can do well in long-course season and continue on,” the junior said.

Albert Gwo, who won the 50 free in 19.9 seconds and the 100 free in 44.60, added, “I am so glad I came. At CCS I got sick. I was trying to go best times in both my events there, but I couldn’t do it. I told myself the state is the last chance of my junior year to go fast.

His day done, Gwo spoke about the experience of swimming in front of stands filled with spectators.

“CCS seems like a pretty good meet,” he said. “But when you come here and you meet people from all over California, it sort of makes you wonder how big of a sport swimming actually is? When you look at the stands and you see all these people coming to watch such a fun sport, such an amazing sport, it gives me goose bumps.”

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2015/05/25/cif-swimming-and-diving-recognizing-medal-winners-who-did-not-make-sundays-story-plus-thoughts-on-meet/feed/0IMG_9359Baseball: Leland will try to lock up CCS spot in regular-season finale Saturdayhttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2015/05/08/baseball-leland-will-try-to-lock-up-ccs-spot-in-regular-season-finale-saturday/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2015/05/08/baseball-leland-will-try-to-lock-up-ccs-spot-in-regular-season-finale-saturday/#commentsFri, 08 May 2015 20:38:36 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/?p=9094
For reigning Central Coast Section Open Division baseball champion Leland, the quest to return to the playoffs most likely comes down to one game, Saturday morning at Santa Teresa. If the Chargers win, they get one of the Blossom Valley… Continue Reading →]]>

For reigning Central Coast Section Open Division baseball champion Leland, the quest to return to the playoffs most likely comes down to one game, Saturday morning at Santa Teresa.

If the Chargers win, they get one of the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s eight automatic CCS spots by virtue of having more section power points than the other contender for the bid, Live Oak.

If Leland loses, Live Oak gets the playoff ticket, and Leland will have to win the league tournament next week to get into CCS.

The game Saturday was originally scheduled for March but was postponed as Leland mourned the death of junior Tristan Nguyen, who collapsed while doing a warm-up jog for track practice.

Leland lost seven games in a row from March 9 to March 28.

Since then, it has won 10 of 16.

The Chargers could have wrapped up a playoff bid Thursday. They scored four in the second against Willow Glen and still led 4-0 going to the fifth.

Coach Mike Sparrer noted that his team, at that point, had thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings against Willow Glen over two-plus games.

But the Rams scored one in the fifth and five in the sixth to stun Leland 6-4.

“We had a 4-0 lead and just let ‘em off the hook a little bit,” Sparrer said Friday. “In the sixth, they just came alive. It didn’t matter who we put in there.”

A rematch looms.

Leland opens the BVAL tournament Tuesday at Willow Glen, with the winner visiting Leigh in the semifinals Thursday.

On the other side of the bracket, Live Oak plays at Pioneer on Tuesday, with the winner traveling to top-seeded Branham on Thursday.

The semifinal winners will play Friday.

###

Even if Leland wins Saturday, Live Oak coach C.J. Goularte believes his team might have enough power points to receive an at-large CCS playoff berth.

“But (you) never know,” he added in an email.

###

BVAL tournament

Tuesday, May 12

Leland @ Willow Glen at 4 p.m.
Live Oak @ Pioneer at 4 p.m.

Thursday, May 14

Live Oak/Pioneer @ Branham at 4 p.m.
Leland/WG @ Leigh at 4 p.m.

Friday, May 15

TBA @ TBA at 4 p.m.

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2015/05/08/baseball-leland-will-try-to-lock-up-ccs-spot-in-regular-season-finale-saturday/feed/0ssjm0529prepbase023In the spotlight: The week’s top performershttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/04/25/in-the-spotlight-the-weeks-top-performers-2/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/04/25/in-the-spotlight-the-weeks-top-performers-2/#commentsThu, 25 Apr 2013 18:16:45 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/?p=4651Continue Reading →]]>Here are the top performers from the week covering April 15 through this past Saturday:

Santa Clara County athletes of the week

Khalid Johnson, St. Francis
Sport: Track and field
Position: Sprinter
Class: Senior
Johnson won the 100- and 200-meter sprints and anchored St. Francis’ victory in the 4×100 relay at the CCS Top 8 Classic. His time in the 200 (21.46 seconds) was third-best in the state this season and a school record.

Marisa Kwiatkowski, Wilcox
Sport: Track and field
Position: Triple jump, long jump
Class: Junior
Kwiatkowski won the triple jump at the CCS Top 8 Classic in a state-best 40 feet, 81⁄2 inches, a mark that ranks No. 2 nationally. She also took first in the long jump in 18-73⁄4, more than a foot better than her previous best.

San Mateo County athletes of the week

Brad Degnan, Woodside
Sport: Baseball
Position: Center field
Class: Junior
Degnan set a state record when he hit three home runs in the first inning of a 24-6 win over Westmoor. He hit two three-run home runs and one two-run blast for eight RBIs in the inning. He now has nine home runs on the season.

Maddy Price, Menlo School
Sport: Track and field
Events: 200, 400
Class: Junior
Price was a double-winner at the Central Coast Section Top 8 Classic, taking first place in the 400 meters in a meet record 55.67 seconds and in the 200 in 24.50. Both times are the best in the section this season.

Jamie Billings, Santa Teresa softball: She struck out 11 and walked just two in Santa Teresa’s 3-0 victory over Leigh in a BVAL Mount Hamilton Division game.

Garret Ciuk, Wilcox baseball: He struck out eight and pitched a complete game as Wilcox edged Palo Alto 1-0 to move into a first-place tie with the Vikings and Homestead in the SCVAL De Anza Division.

Kevin Crane, Bellarmine College Prep baseball: The left-hander threw a complete-game, three-hitter to lead the Bells to a 5-0 victory over St. Ignatius.

Lucas Erceg, Westmont baseball: He struck out 10 and did not walk a batter while throwing a complete game as Westmont defeated Sobrato 1-0.

Joseph Ilaoa, Homestead track and field: Ilaoa, a senior, won the discus and shot put at the CCS Top 8 Classic, throwing the discus in a personal-best and section-leading 178-6. He won the shot put in 52-81⁄2, which was a little off his season best of 54-111⁄2.

Lyndsay Klimenko, Half Moon Bay softball: She struck out 11 to propel Half Moon Bay to a 4-0, eight-inning victory over Hillsdale in the final of the Cougar Invitational.

Sabrina Mendoza, Mills track and field: Mendoza improved her own CCS-leading mark in the shot put to 43-4 and broke a school record that had stood since 1985.

Brett Moriarty, Menlo-Atherton baseball: Moriarty had three hits and four RBIs in a 9-1 win over Terra Nova.

Gina Rodriguez, Sequoia softball: Rodriguez pitched a four-hitter with five strikeouts as the Cherokees beat Burlingame 2-0 in a PAL Bay game.

Greta Wagner, Los Gatos track and field: She won the pole vault at the CCS Top 8 Classic in 13-2, which ranks second in the state, and also was on Los Gatos’ winning 4×00 relay team, which won in a meet-record 47.61 seconds. The previous record was set in 1987 by St. Francis.

Movin’ on up

Lindsay Lester, University of Miami diving: Lester, formerly of Willow Glen High, finished eighth in the 3-meter diving event at the recent NCAA Swimming & Diving championships in Indianapolis, earning All-America honors. Lester, competing in her first NCAA postseason, finished the final round with a score of 320.45.

Matt Page and Julian Merryweather, Oklahoma Baptist baseball: Page and Merryweather, who both played at Serra High and Skyline College, are having standout seasons at Oklahoma Baptist, an NAIA school in Shawnee, Okla. Page, a first baseman, is batting .391 with 13 home runs and 71 RBIs. He is the NAIA national leader in RBIs, fourth in home runs and fifth in slugging percentage (.731). Merryweather, a pitcher, is 9-0 with a 2.15 ERA. He has 56 strikeouts in 62 2⁄3 innings and is holding opposing hitters to a .192 batting average.

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/04/25/in-the-spotlight-the-weeks-top-performers-2/feed/0Basketball: Our latest public school rankingshttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/01/31/public-school-basketball-rankings/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/01/31/public-school-basketball-rankings/#commentsThu, 31 Jan 2013 18:41:38 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/?p=4207Continue Reading →]]>Before proceeding with our latest public school rankings, I thought I would address some of the reasons why we’re doing this.

As the years have gone by, private schools have come to dominate basketball in our section to an unprecedented degree. Over the past five years, private schools have won 24 of 25 CCS boys basketball championships. Taking it back a little further, over the past 19 years, private schools have won 77 of 95 CCS girls basketball championships.

This was not always the case. In the early years of the CCS championships, in the 1960s and ’70s, public schools more than held their own.

In the official Mercury News basketball rankings that we publish every Thursday in the paper, the top six boys basketball teams are from the West Catholic Athletic League. So on this blog, we thought, “Why not compare public school programs with other public school programs?”

All in fun.

So here we go:

BOYS BASKETBALLEl Camino and Palo Alto are both romping through their league schedules. El Camino had four nonleague losses, Palo Alto one, but El Camino played a stronger nonleague schedule. So we’ve had El Camino, with dynamic scoring tandem Michael Smith and Elijah White combining for 45 points per game, ranked ahead of Palo Alto here, but the Vikings are getting harder to keep out of that top spot as they fine-tune their Princeton offense and have extended their winning streak to 16.
Meanwhile, BVAL Mt. Hamilton teams keep knocking each other off.

GIRLS BASKETBALLIn our previous rankings, Lynbrook appeared to be clearly the No. 1 public school girls team. After Wilcox beat the Vikings last week by 19, a case could be made to put the Chargers No. 1. But in viewing the overall season resume, Lynbrook hangs on to the top spot. In much the same situation as on the boys side, the BVAL Mt. Hamilton baffles anyone trying to do a ranking as the top teams just keep beating each other.

Piedmont Hills' Eros Mendoza drives in on Willow Glen's Taylor Meeker in the third quarter at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, Calif. on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. The Piedmont Hills Pirates beat the Willow Glen Rams, 51-47. (Jim Gensheimer/Staff)

Here is a recap of some of Friday’s basketball action, including victories by the Piedmont Hills boys and the Archbishop Mitty girls.

SAN JOSE — Piedmont Hills didn’t get off to a good start Friday night and wilted a little down the stretch. But when Eros Mendoza made two free throws in the final seconds of the boys basketball game, the host Pirates clinched a 51-47 victory over Willow Glen.

The day began with four teams tied atop the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division standings. When it ended, Piedmont Hills and Leigh, a winner Friday over Leland, were the only ones at the top.

Piedmont Hills trailed 16-4 in the first quarter and watched nearly all of its 11-point fourth-quarter lead dissolve as Willow Glen’s Taylor Meeker made basket after basket on his way to a 28-point eruption.

But with a chance to give the Rams a one-point lead with about 10 seconds left, Meeker’s 3-pointer from the top of the key bounced off the rim. Mendoza then sank the foul shots that improved Piedmont Hills’ record to 15-4, 7-2.

“I was just focused,” Mendoza said. “I just thought about emptying everything out of my mind and focusing on those two free throws to end the game. It felt good.”

Coming off a surprising loss at Santa Teresa two days earlier, Piedmont Hills was determined to play well on its home court. Instead, Willow Glen (16-3, 6-3) dominated the early minutes, scoring layup after layup to open a 12-point cushion.

But the game changed after Piedmont Hills coach Pete Simos lit into his team during a timeout.

“At the timeout, our coach yelled at us about defense and how we should pressure up on them,” said power forward Walter Bateast, who led the Pirates with 19 points. “That’s what we did. We hit a couple of good-looking shots, we rebounded and that’s what brought us back into the game.”

Piedmont Hills closed the half on a 19-5 run to take a 23-21 lead into the locker room.

“The kids really stepped up after that bad start,” Simos said. “Willow Glen just jumped on us, and the kids fought back.”

For the complete story from the Piedmont Hills-Willow Glen game, go here.

Archbishop Mitty 58, St. Ignatius 42: Kelli Hayes scored 24 points as Archbishop Mitty defeated St. Ignatius to remain in a first-place tie with Sacred Heart Cathedral atop the West Catholic Athletic League standings. The Monarchs (15-4, 7-1) trailed 17-9 after one quarter Friday before taking a 26-21 halftime lead.

Wilcox 77, Lynbrook 58: Joesetta Fatuesi had 28 points as host Wilcox handed Lynbrook its first loss in SCVAL De Anza Division play. The Chargers (17-2, 5-2) broke the game open in the third quarter as they pulled to within a game of Lynbrook (16-3, 6-1) in the standings.

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/01/25/basketball-piedmont-hills-boys-archbishop-mitty-girls-win-el-camino-boys-nearly-score-100-wilcox-girls-hand-lynrbook-first-division-loss/feed/1ssjm0126preprdp03Piedmont Hills' Eros Mendoza drives in on Willow Glen's Taylor Meeker in the third quarter at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, Calif. on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. The Piedmont Hills Pirates beat the Willow Glen Rams, 51-47. (Jim Gensheimer/Staff)Boys basketball: The season’s first Mercury News top 15http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/01/04/boys-basketball-the-seasons-first-mercury-news-top-15/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/01/04/boys-basketball-the-seasons-first-mercury-news-top-15/#commentsFri, 04 Jan 2013 16:38:07 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/?p=4118Continue Reading →]]>In Friday’s edition of the Mercury News and San Mateo County Times, we unveiled our first Mercury News boys basketball rankings of the season.

The top 15 teams can be found here.

We also wrote an area boys basketball outlook story. Here is the link to that story.

As for our first boys top 15, here it is (records through Wednesday):

1. ARCHBISHOP MITTY (7-3)
Defending Division II state champion Monarchs played a very challenging nonleague schedule. Will it pay off in March?
Friday: vs. St. Ignatius

2. ST. IGNATIUS (10-1)
One-point loss to Westmoor is Wildcats’ only defeat. Trevor Dunbar is one of the top point guards in the CCS.
Friday: at Archbishop Mitty

3. BELLARMINE (10-1)
Defending CCS Division I champion Bells went 10-0 in nonleague play and took Mitty to the wire in WCAL opener.
Friday: at Sacred Heart Cathedral

4. SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL (9-3)
Fightin’ Irish lost a lot off Division III state runner-up team but have reloaded as win at Serra on Wednesday indicated.
Friday: vs. Bellarmine

5. SERRA (9-2)
Padres have nice inside-outside combo with Henry Caruso and Jacqui Biggins and a veteran point guard in Andre Miller.
Friday: at St. Francis

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/01/04/boys-basketball-the-seasons-first-mercury-news-top-15/feed/3Football: Leland coach talks about decision to step down and more on CCS playoffshttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/29/football-leland-coach-talks-about-decision-to-step-down-and-more-on-ccs-playoffs/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/29/football-leland-coach-talks-about-decision-to-step-down-and-more-on-ccs-playoffs/#commentsThu, 29 Nov 2012 20:02:06 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/?p=4011Continue Reading →]]>Had to a chance to talk to Mike Carrozzo yesterday on my drive into the office. He made news this week when he decided to step down after six seasons as Leland’s football coach.

Carrozzo had a successful run at Leland, consistently leading the Chargers to the Central Coast Section playoffs and keeping the school’s rich tradition from fading away. During training camp each August, he would show his players a video tribute of the late Pat Tillman — they called it Pat Tillman Day — and this year Carrozzo was behind the first Pat Tillman Legacy Classic game. Tillman played at Leland in the 1990s.

“One of my responsibilities as the football coach at Leland High School is that Pat Tillman’s legacy is never forgotten,” Carrozzo told me in August.

But though Carrozzo enjoyed his players, his staff and their families, he struggled to cope with the school district’s decision to keep shuffling administrators in and out. As he told me yesterday, he had 26 different bosses in his six seasons. That’s not easy if you’re trying to run a football program.

“I just wish the district would allow the administration to stay and grow some roots,” Carrozzo said.

Carrozzo told his players that he was leaving Monday, nine days after their season ended with an opening-round loss to Aragon in the CCS Division II playoffs.

On his Facebook page, Carrozzo wrote, “Tough day today. Stepped down as the Leland High Football Coach. I want to thank all the players, coaches, administrators, ADs, families and support people that have helped us build this program into a very special program to be a part of. All of you have a very special place in my heart. You have made me the luckiest coach in the business for the last 6 years. Thank you all so much. I love you all!”

On a personal note, Carrozzo made my transition back to the high school beat this fall much smoother — always accommodating and respectful of the job we do.

I only got to see his team play once, at Oak Grove in a regular-season finale that decided the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division title, and I will say this: Even though Leland lost, it stayed in the game against Oak Grove all the way to the end.

*********

We previewed the five CCS championship games this weekend in today’s Varsity Extra page. Here are excerpts of each of them and links to the full story:

Friday night, Bellarmine will try to hold off St. Ignatius once again when the West Catholic Athletic League teams meet at San Jose City College for the section’s Open Division championship.

Bellarmine will bring an 11-game winning streak to the title game, including five wins decided by no more than a touchdown.

“It’s incredible to think that we could go two years in a row winning WCAL and CCS and potentially going to state again,” quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels said.

In its nine victories, Milpitas has averaged 40.3 points while winning by an average margin of 29.2 points.

With a couple of breaks, the Trojans would have won the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division title and landed in the Open Division bracket. Milpitas beat Palo Alto and Los Gatos on the road but lost heartbreakers at home to Wilcox and Saratoga. The loss to Saratoga handed Palo Alto the title.

Los Gatos has won four in a row since a 17-15 loss to Milpitas on Oct. 26, including an overtime semifinal win over Wilcox last week. St Francis has won its past three games by a combined score of 107-7, including a 24-0 victory over Open Division semifinalist Serra on Nov. 10.

Valley Christian, which lost to Bellarmine College Prep, Serra, Archbishop Mitty and St. Francis by a combined 14 points in West Catholic Athletic League play, will be seeking its first CCS title since it won the Open Division seven years ago.

The Warriors advanced to the final with a 56-14 win over Burlingame and a 52-42 win over Sobrato.

Menlo has scored 580 points this season, an average of 48.3 points per game. Junior quarterback Jack Heneghan has thrown 33 touchdown passes with only three interceptions, operating out of Menlo’s wide-open run and shoot offense.

Sacred Heart Prep has allowed 114 points for an average of 9.5 per game.

The first time the rivals played, in the Valparaiso Bowl on Nov. 9 at Woodside High, Sacred Heart Prep came from behind to win 31-28.

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/29/football-leland-coach-talks-about-decision-to-step-down-and-more-on-ccs-playoffs/feed/7CCS football playoffs: Private vs. public debate rages onhttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/19/ccs-football-playoffs-private-vs-public-debate-rages-on/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/19/ccs-football-playoffs-private-vs-public-debate-rages-on/#commentsMon, 19 Nov 2012 15:52:43 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/?p=3937Continue Reading →]]>Reading the comments here this weekend tells me the landscape has not changed since my first stint covering high schools for the Mercury News in the 1990s.

Private schools dominate; public schools cite the unlevel playing field.

My initial thought: Hopefully this year is an aberration because the competitive balance in football on the opening weekend of the Central Coast Section playoffs was not what anyone without a rooting interest wanted to see.

Of the 20 first-round games in the five divisions, only two – yes, two — were decided by a touchdown or less. The average margin of victory: Four touchdowns.

There were seven games between private schools and public schools. Private schools won six of them by an average score of 42.5-13.0. The area’s top two public schools this season — Oak Grove and Palo Alto — lost to their private-school opponents by 24 and 17 points, respectively. The one private school that lost to a public school — Riordan — needed to win a coin flip just to get into the playoffs.

Maybe this was an unusually one-sided year.

As recently as 2007, public schools went 3-0 against private schools in the first round of the Open Division playoffs and in 2010 Palo Alto won the Open Division on its way to a state championship.

But the outcry on the blog this weekend had me digging into the archives to reread an extensive report my former colleague Dave Reddy and I did on the subject years ago.

Clearly, the issues back then are the same issues that were debated this weekend. Here are some excerpts from the story titled “Playing Fair” that ran in the Mercury News on Dec. 26, 1996:

Private schools making a surge in titles since 1986

Private schools, which make up 36 percent of the 111 schools in the section, have made a dramatic surge in the past 10-plus years, winning 233 of the 501 CCS team titles (46.5 percent) contested. That is a 25.7 percent improvement from the previous 10 years, when private schools won 49 of the 235 titles contested.

True, public schools are winning 53.5 percent of the titles. But it is clear that dynasties such as St. Francis’ football team, which has won seven CCS titles in the past eight seasons, and Mitty’s girls basketball team, which has won nine section titles in the past 10 seasons, create a perception that private schools win more often.

“My girls team can compete a little bit, ” said Ernie Dossa, girls basketball coach at public Homestead. “Us against St. Francis is even. But we can’t compete with Mitty.”

Four schools – Bellarmine, St. Francis, Mitty and Sacred Heart Prep – have won 60 percent of the private school titles since the 1976-’77 school year and 23 percent of the titles overall. In leagues where public schools compete against private schools, private schools dominate. Palma, a boys private school in Salinas, has won the Mission Trail Athletic League football title 12 consecutive seasons.

Private school coaches and athletic directors contend this success comes from legally attracting athletes and providing them with state-of-the-art facilities and established programs – in addition to a college preparatory education. Most private schools aren’t dominant on the field, they add, and sometimes public schools are.

Here is another excerpt from our ’96 story:

Financial aid: Athletes receive no special treatment

It isn’t only the recruiting issue that has public school proponents upset. Local private schools, whose tuitions reach as high as $11,000 per year but average roughly $6,000, are often accused of offering athletic scholarships.

Not so, private school coaches and administrators say. Athletic scholarships are illegal. Schools can offer need-based financial aid, but all students are eligible to apply for the assistance.

Athletes receive no special treatment, said Pam Quinn, an administrative assistant in the Bellarmine business office.

“There’s no indication on the application that the students are or are not athletes, ” Quinn said.

At Bellarmine, financial aid applications are sent to Private Schools Aid Service, a company based in Lakewood, Ohio, that analyzes applications nationwide. But the Bellarmine business office makes the final determination for its students.

Bellarmine coaches and administrators aren’t involved in the process. The same holds true at other private schools.

Sixteen years later, the debate has not subsided and probably won’t anytime soon.

As for this weekend’s football games, here is the breakdown of the results:

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/19/ccs-football-playoffs-private-vs-public-debate-rages-on/feed/150Football preview: Week 12 of Friday night under the lightshttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/16/football-preview-week-12-of-friday-night-under-the-lights/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/16/football-preview-week-12-of-friday-night-under-the-lights/#commentsFri, 16 Nov 2012 21:36:12 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/?p=3893Continue Reading →]]>We’re a few hours from the opening weekend of the Central Coast Section football playoffs, with 17 of the 20 games in the five divisions scheduled for Friday night.

There are three very intriguing matchups in the Open Division and one rematch (Terra Nova-Bellarmine).

I will be at Oak Grove tonight to watch the second-seeded Eagles play their opening-round Open Division game against No. 7 seed Archbishop Mitty.

This will mark Oak Grove’s second game against a West Catholic Athletic League opponent this season — the Eagles opened the year with a one-point victory at St. Francis. Oak Grove is 10-0 but is well aware of what happened in the opening round of the CCS playoffs last season, when it lost on its home field to St. Francis.

Interesting note from former colleague Dennis Knight:

Oak Grove senior Nick Bernardo, who rushed for 305 yards last week against Leland, will be facing his cousin, Archbishop Mitty running back/linebacker Chandler Ramirez, who is a junior. Bernardo’s dad and Ramirez’s mom are siblings.

In Palo Alto, fifth-seeded Serra will be aiming to bounce back quickly from its eyeopening 24-0 loss to St. Francis as it faces one of the section’s hottest teams, No. 4 seed Palo Alto.

The Vikings have been rolling since their league-opening loss to Milpitas and have the offense to match Serra on the scoreboard. The Padres were averaging more than five TDs per game before they ran into the St. Francis wall. Palo Alto also has the Open Division experience, having won the title in 2010 and finishing as the runner-up to Bellarmine College Prep last season. Vikings junior QB Keller Chryst was behind center during last season’s run.

St. Ignatius got back on track last week, closing out WCAL play with a victory over Mitty. But now the Wildcats must travel 108 miles from their San Francisco home to Salinas for their opening-round game against a Palma team that found its groove after a rough start. Palma will bring a seven-game winning streak into the game Friday night.

The Open Division’s top seed, Bellarmine, will see a familiar foe when it steps onto the field Friday night at San Jose City College. The Bells began its run to last season’s Open title with a first-round, 56-12 victory over Terra Nova.

Other games to keep an eye on:

In Division II, fourth-seeded Leland, fresh off a close and entertaining loss at Oak Grove, returns home to play fifth-seeded Aragon. The Chargers showed last week that they can score — and score quickly — behind QB Matt McLaughlin and his slew of playmakers. But Aragon can score, too — as in 117 points in its past three games.

Also in the D-II bracket, seventh-seeded Pioneer will visit No. 2 seed Los Gatos in a rematch of last season’s D-II final, which Los Gatos won 28-21. Pioneer is only 4-6, but one of its losses was a down-to-the-wire game against Oak Grove, so this game tonight could be tight.

In Division IV, Capuchino’s Justin Ewing could break te CCS season rushing record Friday night at Seaside. The senior finished the regular season with 2,749 yards rushing, second-most in section history. He 50 yards Friday nto become No. 1 in CCS history for rushing yards in a season. Burlingame’s Onan Reyes holds the record, with 2,798 yards in 1997. According to the Cal-Hi Sports record book, Ewing has set a CCS record for carries in a season with 365 and is eighth in state history for regular-season rushing yards.

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/16/football-preview-week-12-of-friday-night-under-the-lights/feed/27Football preview: Week 11 of Friday night under the lightshttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/09/football-preview-week-11-of-friday-night-under-the-lights/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2012/11/09/football-preview-week-11-of-friday-night-under-the-lights/#commentsFri, 09 Nov 2012 19:12:35 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/?p=3799Continue Reading →]]>Can’t believe the final weekend of the regular season is here. But it is – and there are some big games to keep an eye on.

I’ll be at Oak Grove tonight for the Mount Hamilton Division finale between Leland and the Eagles. I had a good interview with Leland coach Mike Carrozzo this week and here are excerpts from the story we published on the Varsity Extra page Thursday:

With one game still to play, the race for the Mount Hamilton’s automatic berth into the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs isn’t over just yet.

The Leland Chargers can claim the spot Friday night. All they have to do is march into Oak Grove’s stadium and march out with a victory.

Of course, Carrozzo knows that stopping big-play threats Nick Bernardo (No. 33) and ChidobeAwuzie (No. 7) is much easier to talk about than to actually do on the field.

“Everybody who they’ve played this year has said the same thing, and no one’s been able to do it successfully,” Carrozzo said.

That’s the challenge Leland (6-3, 5-1 league) faces as it aims to share the Mount Hamilton title with second-ranked Oak Grove (9-0, 6-0).

If the Chargers pull off the upset, they would get the league’s Open spot by virtue of the head-to-head victory over Oak Grove, leaving Oak Grove in the mix for one of the Open’s three at-large spots. The Eagles, who played a strong nonleague schedule, probably would have enough power points to qualify.

If Leland loses, it likely will slide into Division II.

There is also a big game at Fremont High of Sunnyvale as the Firebirds go for a share of their league title when they play host to first-place Gunn. Here is what I wrote this week about this and the league race:

The Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division could end up with one football champion, co-champions or tri-champions. It’s that tight.

If Gunn wins at Fremont on Friday, Gunn wins the title. If Fremont wins and Cupertino beats Monta Vista, Gunn and Fremont share the title.

If Fremont and Monta Vista win, the division ends in a three-way tie.

For Fremont coach Ron DeMonner, he says he’s just grateful that his team is still in the discussion.

“It’s nice to have a reason (to play) as opposed to playing out the string,” DeMonner said. “We’re going to be challenged defensively.”

In San Mateo County, it’s rivalry weekend — which means many of the games are nonleague contests between traditional rivals. The big one is tomorrow when Burlingame plays host to San Mateo in the 85th Little Big Game.

Glenn Reeves wrote about the county’s rivalry scene this week, and here is an excerpt from his story:

In San Mateo County, traditional rivalries have remained important enough that the Peninsula Athletic League arranges its division schedules so that rivals can continue to play every year on the final weekend before the playoffs.

The oldest of the rivalry matchups is the Little Big Game, a tradition between San Mateo and Burlingame that dates to 1927. The teams’ game Saturday at Burlingame (kickoff is 11 a.m.) will be the 85th in the series. Burlingame, which has won 13 of 15 since San Mateo coaching icon Buz Williams retired after the 1996 season, leads overall 48-32. Four games have ended in ties.

The fun Saturday begins early as the San Mateo band will march the mile and a half or so between the schools, accompanied by a police escort.

“It’s a huge deal for the community,” San Mateo coach Jeff Scheller said. “It’s going to be fun. We’re lucky to be part of it.”

In the West Catholic Athletic League, Archbishop Mitty will visit St. Ignatius on Saturday in a game that could determine the final spot in the Open Division playoffs if Leland stuns Oak Grove.

If that doesn’t happen, both Mitty and S.I. are expected to play in the Open regardless of what happens Saturday.

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Sunday morning, the CCS will make the playoff brackets official and I will be there. I’ll post the matchups on this blog as they come in, and then I’ll be online later in the afternoon — 4 p.m. to be exact — to answer questions and discuss the matchups in our first live chat of the fall.